Mt. Pleasant Twp. man set foot on every continent but Antarctica
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James Hall has set foot on every continent except Antarctica.
“He went on at least three mission trips to Africa, another trip to Morocco, all over the place,” said his daughter C. Carol Oravetz of Ligonier. “He loved to travel and he loved to eat. I traveled the U.S. and a little bit of Canada with him, and, no matter how far away from home I’ve been, we’d always run into someone who knew him.”
Mr. Hall told Oravetz not long ago “that if my mother goes before him, he was going to buy a bus ticket to nowhere, and it doesn’t matter where it goes, he’s just going to sit and watch the local color go by,” she said.
James A. Hall of Mt. Pleasant Township died Friday, June 21, 2019, of complications from pneumonia. He was 90.
Mr. Hall was born Jan. 2, 1929, in Ligonier Township, a son of the late Clarence W. and Marie R. (Darr) Hall, and grew up in Laughlintown.
During his childhood, Mr. Hall was struck by a truck.
“He told us he was stealing peaches from a local farmer, and a truck ran over his leg and crushed it,” Oravetz said. “This pre-dated penicillin, so it took a long, long time to heal.”
It never healed completely, according to Mr. Hall’s son, Richard Hall of Allegany, N.Y.
“His leg literally had holes through it,” Richard said. “When we were going swimming, you could see the holes. But it didn’t stop him from playing baseball. He used to tell me that ‘No one could ever strike me out with a curveball.’”
Mr. Hall met his wife of 67 years, Cassandra L. (West) Hall, in the summertime.
“There was a community of summer homes in Laughlintown,” Oravetz said. “My other grandparents had one of those homes, so they’d visit during the summer.”
The couple was married on Sept. 9, 1951.
Mr. Hall was a U.S. Army veteran, serving in Germany during the Korean War. He also served in the National Guard for 18 years. He later re-enlisted “for a few more years, which allowed him to retire as a master sergeant with a full pension and benefit,” Oravetz said.
Following his military service, Mr. Hall worked as a senior accountant for SuperValu in New Stanton. But he never forgot his military friends.
“He had military buddies from The Retired Enlisted Association, and he spent a lot of time with them,” Oravetz said. “He was always loathe to miss a TREA event.”
Mr. Hall recovered from a serious bout with illness in 2012 just as his wife was becoming heavily affected by Alzheimer’s.
“It was almost like he got better so he could take care of her,” Richard said. “For two or three years, he spent 100% of his time taking care of her … He did it almost up until the day he died.”
Oravetz said her father — who styled himself “The Orneriest Kid in Laughlintown” in his younger days — was extraordinary.
“He had a real zest for life, he embraced everything around him, and he rolled with the punches no matter what they were,” Oravetz said.
Mr. Hall is survived by his wife, Cassandra L. “Sandy” (West) Hall; his son, Richard James Hall of Allegany, N.Y.; his daughter, C. Carol Oravetz of Ligonier; two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Friends will be received at 10 a.m. Tuesday in Armbrust Wesleyan Church, 7790 Route 819, where an 11 a.m. funeral will take place.
Interment will be private.
Memorial contributions can be made to the Armbrust Wesleyan Church Academy.